New Musical Laboratory

The New Musical Laboratory (NML) at Michigan State University is an innovative musical development program created through a unique educational partnership between the MSU Department of Theatre and Wharton Center for Performing Arts.

Founded in 2015, NML brings together professional musical theatre writers, MSU Theatre faculty, and students in a collaborative, hands-on environment. Through this process, students gain valuable skills and real-world insights by actively participating in the development of new musicals. The program serves as a creative “laboratory” where writers can share and refine their work in a supportive, staged reading environment.

Each project culminates in public performances at Wharton Center, where audiences are invited to engage with the creative process by offering feedback that helps shape the show’s future development.

The NML partnership provides Wharton Center—home to the best of touring Broadway and performing arts—the opportunity to demonstrate its strong commitment to education and to nurturing the artistic innovation of emerging voices in musical theatre.

The New Musical Laboratory continues to be a national leader in developing new works for the stage.

MSU and National Theatre Impacts

Since its launch, the New Musical Laboratory has served as a key incubator for new musicals in their early stages of development.

The New Musical Laboratory is typically best suited to be a second or third step in the development phase of a new work. NML often provides writers with their first opportunity to see their work fully staged. This phase of development is crucial, offering insight into story structure, character arcs, and pacing—areas where dramaturgical supports have been especially valuable. NML provides this critical resource to support writers and creative teams.

For MSU Theatre students, the program creates a powerful bridge between academic learning and professional practice. By engaging directly with industry professionals, students meet learning objectives while forming connections that may benefit their careers long after graduation. Additionally, students have made lasting contributions to the shape of the story and characters.

Three actors are dressed in scrubs and surround another actor in a hospital gown sitting on a gurney with an attached IV pole.

A cast of actors on a stage in a theatre setting. The actor in the center stands on a steamer truck. The other actors around her form a V that is defined by the long rope they all hold.

Two actors on stage. The woman on the left sits on a steamer trunk. She wears a sequined dress and a knit scarf and sings to the other actor sitting alongside the trunk. He wears a white collared shirt and suspenders.

A group photo on stage of the cast of actors in a theatre production.

Five actors are on stage with three of the actors dressed in football pads and helmets. One of the actors holds the edge of a trash can that another actor is sitting in.

Two actors are on stage in a theatre setting. One actor wears a black shirt, straw cowboy hat, and cowboy boots. He is crouching and gestures out away from the other actor. The other actor is sitting with her arms outstretched through the bottom of an upturned wooden chair. She is wearing a denim shirt and jeans.

Three actors in flight attendant costumers with dark skirts, white shirts, hats and scarves tied around their necks stand around an actor in a dark suit with a piolet hat and aviation wings pin. The actors are on a wooden stage in a theatre setting.

A group of performers sit on stage behind music stands. The are facing writers and directors at a table and in chairs. Everyone is on a stage in a theatre setting.

Behind the Scenes

See how writer Joey Contreras workshopped In Pieces in collaboration with MSU students through the New Musical Laboratory program.

New Musical Laboratory over time

The New Musical Laboratory (NML), previously called ĭmáGen, first started at Michigan State University in 2015.

new musicals workshopped

200+

MSU students Engaged through NML

20+

Writers involved in NML

1500+

audience members attended new musicals

Supporting Theatre Professionals

Participants in the New Musical Laboratory workshop and develop new musical productions at MSU under the guidance of a professional director, the writer and creative team of the chosen musical, and students who contribute behind the scenes and as actors.

The New Musical Laboratory program provides chosen musical participants with:

A professional creative team according to the needs of the show and may include AEA actors, a director, dramaturg, and others.
A cast supported by the talents and expertise of the MSU Department of Theatre.
An honorarium for your creative team along with housing and travel accommodations to workshop your new musical over the two-week period on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
A minimum of two premiere publicly staged concert performances of your musical will be held at Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre.

New Musical Laboratory Submission Process

October: The call for musical submissions is opened for to writers across the U.S.
December: Submissions are due.
Late January/Early February: Theatre faculty members and Wharton Center employees review submissions.
Late March/Early April: The musical for the fall production is announced.
August/September: Rehearsals, staging, and the final musical production performed at Wharton Center for Performing Arts on the campus of Michigan State University.

The ideal cast size is 15-20 and the ideal band size is 3-5 for new musical submissions.

NML Collaborations

Our students have worked directly under such Broadway directors, composers, choreographers and actors including:

Marc Acito: Allegiance (on Broadway)
Gabriel Barre: Amazing Grace (on Broadway)
Joe Barros: Broadway: Gigi (on Broadway)
Julian Diaz-Granados: Dear Evan Hansen (on Broadway), Ruben & Clay’s Christmas Show (on Broadway)
Hannah Elles: Bright Star (on Broadway), Godspell
Mark Hollman: Urinetown (on Broadway)
Carrie Manolakos: Mamma Mia (on Broadway), Dear Evan Hansen (on Broadway)
Ryan Scott Oliver: We Foxes, Jasper in Deadland, Darling, 35MM
Justin Matthew Sargent: Bonnie and Clyde (on Broadway), Spider-Man (on Broadway)
Katie Thompson: Oklahoma! (on Broadway), Pump Boys and Dinettes (off Broadway), Giant
Stephanie Torns: Wicked (on Broadway), Waitress (on Broadway)
Jennifer Werner: The Book of Mormon (on Broadway)